Retaining-hoop for containers.



D. F. KELLER.

RETAINING HOOP FOR CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-16,1913- l 1 75,453 Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

27 o kg DALLAS F. KELLER, OF LAMONI, IOWA.

RETAINING-HOOP FOR CONTAINERS.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

Application filed September 16, 1913. Serial No. 790,047.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, DALLAS l3. KELLER, citizen of the United States, residing at Lainoni, in the county of Decatur and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Retaining-Hoops for Containers, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in retaining hoops or binders for silos, vats, tanks and other re ceptacles or containers of a like nature.

There has been a longnfelt want for a cheap and etlicient retaining hoop of the character set forth which might be tightened or loosened to correspondwith the expansion or contraction of the wood, metal, or material of which, the structure is made,,so that the staves or divisions may be firmly held in sealed relation to one another at alltimes.

Being cognizant of the above, I have had in mind as the principal objectin the conception of this invention theprovision of a novel form of retaining hoop which is applicable to silos, vats tanks, and all other types of containers, and consists in a numforegoing is to simplify the device to as great an extent as possible byarranging the stays in such manner that 1t is only necessary to employ two encircling series in ac-.

complishing the. two-fold desideration of binding the staves or divisions of the container in sealing relation to one another and holding them againstradial displacement.

A yet further objectiis to arrange the individual stay rods of each encircling series with such relation to the adjacent stay'rods of its mated series that their corresponding terminals will be detachably secured to the container in vertical alinement,'and they will intersect at a point approximately, in the center of a rectanglathe four'corners of which are defined by the terminals-of the stay rods, thus directing the greater part of the binding force exerted by the stay rods a ainst the longitudinal centers of the more central staves or divisions of the container comprehended between the attached terminals of the stay rods, since the central staves being more remote from the attached terminals of the stay rods will have the greater tendency toward radial displacement.

A still further object resides in the provision of a retaining hoop which may be cheaply manufactured, will be durable and efficient in its action, and may be readily applied to any type of container with a 'minimum expenditure of time and labor.

A. further object is to arrange the means by which the lineal adjustment of the stay rods is accomplished in such mannerthat they may be conveniently manipulated from the ground or supporting surface on which the container is mounted, thus eliminating the necessity of employing a ladder or the like when the devices are employed with a silo or similar structures 01: equal magnitude.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more particularly pointed out in the claims which; are appended hereto and form a part of this application.

lVith reference to the drawings, wherein l have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention as it is'reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate correthe silo being spread out with the retaining hoopelements in assembled position. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the fastening plates employed in securing the said rods to the silo staves; Fig. 4 is a detail view of that form of fastening plate shown in Fig. 2, and

Fig- 5 is a perspective view illustrating in detail another modified form of fastening plate.

Before taking up the description of the drawings, itis desirable to emphasize the fact that while the retaining hoop of th s invention, has been designed with particular reference to the needs of silos, has been illustrated and will be hereinafter dQSCTllJQCl in that connection, it may, nevertheless, be applied with equal etllciency to vats, tanks or any other receptacle of a similar nature,

rel, keg or. similar receptacle by merely reducing its dimensions.

Proceeding now to the description of the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in connectionwith a silo of the usual vertical staves.

type, and includes broadly a pair or more of encircling elements each of which consists of a plurality of stay rods and fastening devices for detachably securing them to the staves of the silo.

In Fig. 2, the numerals 10, 11 and 12 designate the stay rods of one series, while the numerals 13, 14 and 15 designate the corresponding elements of the second mated series. In this connection, it may be well to state that only'two encircling series of stay rods have been illustrated inasmuch as the working principles of the present invention may be adequately illustrated thereby and the addition of further elements would only tend to complicate the drawing. It, is obvious, however, that if the retaining hoops of. this lnvention are applied to $1108 of unusual heightany desired number of the devices may be'employed, this matter being one of purely arbitrary nature which must be governed by conditions concurrent with the adoption of theinvention.

The stay rods 10, 11 and 12 which constitute the individual elements of the first retaining hoop are arranged diagonally with respect to the vertical axis of the silo, and are alternately directed at an upward and downward angle, as wlll be observed upon reference to the drawings. The function of this'arrangement will be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

Each of the elements 10, 11 and 12 includes a pair of metal rods 16 and 17, each of which is screw-threaded at both terminals. The member 16 is shorter'than the member 1'? being in the preferred embodiment one-half the length of the number 1'? so that the turnbuckle 18 by which the lineal adjustment of the stay rod is accomplished may be manipulated from the ground or structure upon which the silo is supported. Relative to the turn-buckle 18, it will be obvious upon reference to the drawings that this element is employed in most face of the member 19. The attaching plate 20 is mounted 'liagonally on a stave or division of the silo, indicated at 22, and is secured by bolts, screws or any other suitable or desired fastening devices indicated at 23.

The upper terminals of the members 12 and 13 are respectively secured by fastening plates 24: and 25 which are substantially identical with the member 20 and are secured to the silo staves in the same manner. The lower terminal of the member 15 (not shown in the drawings) is secured by a fastening plate similar to the members 24 and 25. It will be'observed that the upper terminals of the members 12 and 13 and lower terminals of the members 10 and 15 respectively constitute the terminals of the two retaining hoops. Referring now particularly to Fig 1, it will be noted that the upper terminals of the members 10 and 11,

and 14 and 15, and the lower terminals of the members 13 and 1 1, and 11 and 12 are respectively convergent to a common point, and are secured to the same stave or division of the silo by similar fastening plates, one of which is designatedas an entirety by the numeral 27. This member 27 is employed in attaching the upper terminals of the members 10 and 11 to a stave 29 and consists essentially in the V-s'haped metallic plate, the arms of the V being designated by the numerals 30 and 31. This plate 27 is bolted or otherwise secured as at 32, and is equipped at the terminals of the arms 30 and 31 with integrally formed outstanding apertured lugs or ears 33 and 341 through which the threaded terminals of the members 10 and 11 are directed. -Burs or nuts 35 are employed in holding these members 10 and 11 against displacementa From the foregoing, the actual, construction and arrangement of the several parts of the retaining hoops of this invention will be apparent, and it, therefore, remains to describe the manner in which they operate to produce the desired binding engagement between the stavesof the silo and to hold these elem'entsagainst radial displacement. In this connection, the members'lO and 13, the terminals of which are secured to the staves 22 and 29, will be treated specifically,

itbeing undesto'od that the action of the remaining stays of the device corresponds.

Inasmuch as the 'members 10 and 13 are arranged diagonally across the face of the silo, andhave their upperand lower terminals respectively attached in vertical alinement and their respective upper terminals attached in horizontal alinement, it is obvious that the binding of the stays comprehended between the members 22 and 29 will be substantially equivalent to that obtained were two separate circumferential hoops or retaining bands employed and disposed to respectively comprehend the upper and lowerterminals of the stay rods 10 and 13. It is now to befurther noted that as well as binding the stays comprehended between the members 22 and 29 against one another in the same manner as would a pair of circumferential hoops, the stay rods further act to exert a relatively large restraining force on the intermediate staves at the approximate central points thereof.

It will, of course, be apparent that the tendency toward radial displacement will be most marked in the more centrally disposed of the intermediate staves included between the members 22 and 29, and that the retaining hoops of this invention are of maximum efficiency in holding the staves against radial (llS'plflCQlllGi'lt due largely to the fact that they are diagonally arranged on the staves and intersect at the longitudinal center of the central intermediate silo elements.

In reduction to practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustratedin the drawings and referred to in the abovedescription, as the preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, propor ion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to,when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Relative to the practical employment of this improvement, it may be well to set forth that it is often desirable to utilize the ordinary type of encircling hoops in assisting the guy rods in holding the staves of the silo a gainst bulging or expansive pressure. It is to be further noted that the guy rods are appliedin such a manner that twisting of the vertically disposed staves is effectually guarded againsaby reason of the fact that the guy rods are individu-ally capable of radial adjustment so that any tendency of the Sta-Yes toward movement or displacement from. a'vertical position may be readily and effectually corrected.

Relative to the various modifications to which the invention may be subjected, it will be noted upon reference to Figs. 2 and 5, that there the employment of a modified form of rod fastening plates is contemplated. This modified form consists of a metallic plate 35, which is substantially trapezoidal in shape, and is equipped at its apex portion with a pair of diverging attaching arms 36 and 37. The terminals of the arms 36 and 37 are bent outwardly to produce the apertured rod receiving lugs 38 and 39. These lugs 38 and 39 are employed in holding the terminals of the rods in a manner hereinbefore ascribed to the members 33 and 34 of the fastening plate 27. The face or upper edge of the plate is bent to produce an L- shaped attaching lip or flange 40. When this modified form of fastening plate is applied to the silo in assembled position, the horizontal portion of the member 40 engages the upper edge of the silo staves, while the vertical portion is arranged to engage against the inner face of the silo staves adjacent their upper edges.

hat I claim is 1. The combination with a container, of a retaining hoop including a plurality of inde pendent tensioning rods arranged to intersect in pairs and to extend diagonally with respect to the circumference of the container, and a plurality of fastening plates for detach-ably securing the terminals of the retaining rods to the container, certain of said fastening plates including a pair of diverging arms and apertured outstanding ears formed at the free terminals of the arms for the reception of the terminals of the tensioning rods, and means for independently tensioning each ofsaid rods.

2. The combination with a container, of a retaining hoop including a plurality of separate tensioning rods having threaded terminals and fastening plates for detachably securing the terminals of each rod to the container, certain of said fastening plates including a body portion, diverging arms extending therefrom, apertured ears formed on the free terminals of the arms and extending at right angles thereto, said ears being adapted to receive the threaded terminals of the rods, a substantially L-shaped flange formed on the body portion and adapted to embrace the edge of the container for holding the fastening plates, in position,

and nuts threaded on the terminals of the rods and engaged against the inner faces of said ears for holding the rods in position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DALLAS F. KELLER. [Ls] \Vitnesses ORRA TEALE, CLARENCE Goonn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

